2020 has been a very memorable year. It started for me, just 10 days in … with my 50th birthday. I celebrated that evening with a massive crowd of 12 or so friends (I’m an introvert) gathered around food and drink, with love and friendship present in spades. It was a perfect celebration. Initially, I had felt pressured to do something a bit more ‘grand’ (skydiving, for example). But in the end, I settled on starting my sixth decade (Yes? Gulp!) with this group of local friends. Just to make the year a bit more splashy, however, I decided that I would also aim to have 50 small parties over the course of the ensuing year (a special dinner with a friend or a weekend away with my sister would count toward this objective and fit my style much better than skydiving, which frankly holds no appeal). RR 2.0 … a reinvention of myself, the Reverend Robechek.
No, no, no. I’m really not that self-absorbed, I was just setting the context. Actually, RR 2.0 really stands for a second iteration of the great Protestant Reformation, or what I am calling the Religious Reformation 2.0. This is a massive event we are collectively experiencing, but it’s likely to be experienced more like the melting icecaps than the SIP (Station in Place) orders we suddenly faced in March of this year due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. As such, RR 2.0 hasn’t gotten the needed press. But, it should be getting more air time, in my (not always so) humble opinion.
Much like the 2.0 version of the Civil Rights movement this year (a second major attempt at addressing what was started in the 1960s), the 2020 Religious Reformation (RR 2.0) may well further the Reformation of the 1500-1600s, which changed the world in massive ways. That original Reformation started on October 31, 1517, when a German theology professor named Martin Luther nailed 95 Theses to the door of Wittenberg’s Castle Church. His academic rebellion against the Roman Catholic Church (for selling indulgences to poor souls seeking an absolution of sins) became anything but just a heady exchange of differing viewpoints. I’m not sure I can pinpoint an exact start date for the start of RR 2.0, it’s been blossoming for some time now and I think we will be experiencing aftershocks for a long time to come.
Take a look at this video by Acosta. I find it powerful, mesmerizing, ominous and hopeful. For the words in English, click here. Otherwise, turn off the lights, increase the screen size on your devise and be prepared to be drawn in. Hang with the tough parts … and see where/how you might be called to partner more fully with your Creator (“Our obligations are mutual, just like they’ve always been”).